Singing Beach

Today we finally made it to a BEACH!!! We've gone from regular visits to our local Kailua beach to no beach time at all (unless you count 50 feet of dirt that leads into a freshwater lake). The forecast was for Thunderstorms (nothing new there), but it was bright and sunny when we woke up so we decided to tempt fate and drive about 40 minutes north to Manchester-By-The-Sea, home of Singing Beach, heralded as one of the prettiest beaches in NE. Well, Singing Beach did not disappoint. While it wasn't super long (by Hawaiian standards), it was very wide with lots of soft sand. Unfortunately, we left the camera in the car so no photos :-( We decided to go on a weekday so that we could use the "residents only" parking lot that is not open to us lowly folk on the weekends. We paid out the - choke! - 25$ parking fee and headed onto the beach despite the darkening clouds. Some say what you give out, comes back to you and as Greg was digging in the sand with his slippa (we forgot to bring Kai's sand toys), he happened upon the mother lode and pocketed $1.25 in quarters! Woo hoo! I am sure all those metal detector folks would be jealous!

Kai wasn't sure to what to make of the Atlantic Beach. He thought the sand was pretty cool although it did make walking a little more wobbly. He enjoyed throwing it, eating it, rolling in it and unfortunately, rubbing it in his eyes. He wasn't so sure about the ocean. He eyed the shore break suspiciously even though it was about the same size as Kailua beach. It wasn't quite so turquoise and it was only 65 degrees so maybe that had something to do with it. In fact, the whole beach experience seemed to make him a little nervous. He insisted on holding Mommy's hand and was none too happy when we tried to push him to venture out on his own.

In typical Kai fashion, he came around. After a few rain showers and a few trips back to the Element for snacks and shelter, he reconnected with his surfer self, and all of sudden couldn't get enough of the water. We weren't quite so brave so we only let him run in up to his knees and he was none too happy when we decided it was time to go.

We missed the Hawaiian beach showers but did appreciate the family restroom. We washed Kai off in the sink where he tried with all of his determination to turn the water on full force. We didn't let him, so he decided that if he couldn't get to the taps with his hands, he'd use his feet and then he tried determinedly to turn on the water with his feet!!! Crazy kid!

Manchester itself is a really quaint seaside town so we decided to stay for lunch at a little place called the Kitchen Witch. Kai enjoyed his grilled cheese while Greg and I had a veggie wrap and quiche. Yum! Despite the not great weather it was a fun morning out.

Btw, for those who are interested (Blackie, I know you're reading now), tonight on the Tuesday night ride the score was rock wall - 0; Louise - 1!!!!!! Woo hoo!!!!